Wazzzer's 1.8T... Lots of updates

[Wazzzer]

Car has been out of the bodyshop for while now and I'm starting to feel a bit more love towards it...

So with that in mind I've started to fix a few things that have been bugging me for a while, namely the material on my pillar pod. So tonight I glued it on again and it now looks spot on again.

I also found a bit of time to fit these



PSI Tuning shifter bracket bushes, made from billet aluminium. Not the hardest thing to fit but a bit fiddly. My rubber bushes weren't in the greatest condition so I'm glad I replaced them.

I've also made some progress on my rear beam, namely painting it.











Amazing what a lick of paint can do 

It's up at my parents at the mo so I'll be fitting the rear beam bushes when I go up there again on Friday and maybe the stub axles and bearings.

Other things added to the list are some modded door cards, I'm going to swap the existing material on there with the same stuff I did my roof lining in as they have started to come away and look saggy and horrible 

I've also got to finish the front rubstrip, get the skirts painted and fitted, make my air filter heatshield, fit my other TT hub, whiteline ARB, TT rack... There's plenty to keep me busy for now

Oh and there's the small matter of some Porker calipers

[mcgee9t2]

Best get to work then ey wes.

how come your painting the rear beam. looks alot better than one thats stone chipped and scratched etc. but for something noones really going to see i cant see the point in buying a rear beam and going through the effort of painting.

or was it just because things like bushes needed doing and rather than doing it on the car youd rather do everything off the car then quickly swap the rear beam out?

[Wazzzer]

I was gifted the rear beam and the bushes needed doing anyway, plus I've got my 256mm rear discs to go on so I thought I'd do it all off the car in the warm and dry lol.

All I'll have to do is literally unbolt the old rear beam and calipers then chuck the new one on, bleed the brakes and away I go. Something will obviously go wrong though

[Dave_IOW]

Oh my god. Unbelievable!

Thought I'd never see it again

[Diamond Hell]

Thought I'd never see it again

Much like your original white Golf.....

[Wazzzer]

Started painting the 256mm rear carriers with some caliper paint from Halfords, it's surprisingly good stuff



Also did some more work on the beam today, vRS rear beam bushes are in, made use of my home made bush press

Started with this





a quick blast with the battery ratchet and I had this



added the spacer and another go to get it to pull right in, done



Also fitted the splash guards and stub axle on one side of the beam, didn't fit the bearing as I need to torque the bolts up properly first



Ran into a bit of problem on the other side, the threads in the beam must be a bit ropey as the bolts are getting stuck halfway. I didn't have my taps to hand so I'll have to wait until next week before I can sort that out

I've also got myself some new caliper bleed nipples with red caps for my new calipers...



and here they are



Just need to key them up and give them a good coat of paint then fit it all on

My mate at work made me a quick tool to help get the rear bushes out of my arms



and I've also got some new top mount bearings as the old ones are shot, should have really changed them when I fitted the poly top mounts but I didn't think about that at the time

[Chris.]

Looking good mate!

Let me know how the VRs rear bushes get on.   Id not polybushed mine as heard it can have a skippy effect on the back,  so some nice solid OEM ones could be on the cards.

[Wazzzer]

Bit of progress...

Rear beam is finished, just need some new bolts for the shocks and beam bushes and it's ready to be fitted on. Will probably stick with the smaller rears until I get the Leon calipers finished, then I can bleed the whole system through in one go. Bought some paint to get the skirts done, just need to give them to my mate in the week. Speaking of paint, I've been finishing the carriers and started on the rear calipers...



I've fitted new boots to them and renewed the grease on the slider pins



Rear caliper topside done, just the underneath to do then onto the next one

I've now got a background heater for my shed so will paint a few more bits over the weekend

[Wazzzer]

Been busy today, started at 10am with this lot..



went down to my mates garage and we got cracking. He dropped the subframe off and played with the steering rack while I pressed out bushes and fitted the new ARB

My home made defcon bushes fitted (allows the fitting of the smaller TT bushes)



and caster adjustment bushes fitted to the rear of the TT



The Whiteline adjustable front ARB fitted, no more contact with the driveshaft. I also threw some 8mm spacers on in preparation for the clearance over the Leon Brembos



and the resting place of the standard parts. Unbeknown to me my steering rack was leaking so it was a good move replacing it with the TT rack



The result? It feels like a brand new car. Without a doubt this is one mod I would recommend to any Golf owner. The steering is sharper, you get more feedback and it just gives more confidence to take corners.

Next job is a service, I noticed an oil leak today which seems to be coming from the sandwich plate behind the oil filter so I'll do it a bit more investigation on what I'll need to replace this at the same time

On another note my 323mm discs arrived so I'm good to go with that once the calipers are painted

[daz veedub]

The tt setup is that all you need the rack ?